Eyes for toy figures



April 30, 1929. H. S TEINER EYES FOR TOY FIGURES Filed Sept. 8, 1926 Patented Apr. 30, 1929.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

EYES FOR TOY FIGURES.

Application filed September 8, 1926, Serial No. 134,254, and in Germany June 3, 1926.

This invention relates to an improved toy figure of the .kind having eyeballs adapted to close when the toy figure is moved from a sub stantially vertical to a substantially horizontal position.

it is known in connection with toy figures in which the eyes are fixed to enclose a lens shaped body forming a pupil in a lens shaped hollow body representing an eyeball in such a manner that the pupil is capable of moving freely within the eyeball.

l iccording to the present invention, a toy figure oi the type having movable eyeballs is constructed with movable pupils within the movable eyeballs. u

ihe accompanying drawing illustrates one constructional example of the invention, in which I Fig. 1' is the eyeball in section,

29 Fig. 2 a horizontal section through a dolls head with an eye according to Fig. 1, and Fig. 3 a vertical section through a dolls head with an eye according to Fig. 1.

lhe eyeball consists of an'opaque ball 1 which is flattened on one side and which is provided with transparent spherical cap 2 supplementing the flattened ball so as to form a complete sphere, the arrangement being such that between the two parts a hollow space 3 is formed for the reception of a lensshaped body 41 forming the pupil of the eye. This lens-shaped body may be made of any suitable material and is given the desired colour of the eye. A preferred means for securing the spherical cap to the ball 1 consists of dividing a depressed flanged portion about the ball adjacent the flattened front side so that the depressed flanged portion receives the adjacent edge of the cap.

Preferably the flattened ball forms three quarters of a sphere and the spherical cap is made in the form of a semi-sphere, so that the one part overlaps theother along an annular spherical surface, the width of which corresponds to about half the radius of the ball, and so that the two parts may be connected together in an air-tight manner. The two parts of the ball ma however bear a different proportion to eae other. The hollow space between the two parts of the ball and the pupil are preferably of such relative dimensions that the pupil can only slide on the flattened surface of the ball.

The flattened opaque ball may be White or may be coloured in any way so that in corn-- bination with a suitably coloured pupil the eyes may be given most varied colour effects. The spherical cap preferably consists of colourless transparent glass and is made in any suitable manner, but may of course be made of any other suitable material. The flattened ball may also be made of glass, for instance by first blowing a glass sphere and then applying suction to the hollow ball so formed, so that the latter will be forced in at one place. The flattened ball will however preferably be stamped out of porcelain, steatite or some other suitable material.

The two spheres forming the eyeballs (Figs. 2 and 3) are connected together in a known manner by a U-shaped stirrup 5 and are journalled in spherical sockets 6 in the head 7 of the toy figure. The stirrup 5' is provided in a known manner with a weighted lever 8 which produces the rotation of the eyeballs in their sockets, when the head or the body is inclined. The eyeballs are provided with painted or otherwise made eyelids 9 which, when the figure is in the horizontal position, close the eye cavities of the head, but lie at the top and back, when the figure is vertical, so that the eyeballs with the movable pupils will appear in the eye sockets. l

The eyeball according to the present invention is intended more particularly for dolls heads, but is also suitable for human and animal figures of all kinds, more particularly for caricatures and comic toys and similar devices which have only a single or a number of such eyes, while for the rest they need not have the shape of human beings or animals.

What I claim is:

1. An eyeball comprising'an opaque ball flattened on the front side, a hollow transparent spherical cap foreomplementing the saidflattened ball so as to form a complete sphere, said ball including means for securing the cap thereto, and a len's-shapedsolid body forming the pupil of the eye positioned 1 in the cap for free sliding movement on the flattened front side of the ball, substantially as and for the purposes set forth.

2. An eyeball comprising an opaque ball 5 flattened on the front side and provided adjacent the flattened front side with an annular depressed flanged portion, a hollow transparent spherical cap having the outer edge secured in overlapping relation to the depressed flanged portion for complementing the said flattened ball so as to form a complete sphere, and a lens-shaped solid body forming the pu il of the eye positioned within the cap an adapted for freely slidahle movement on the front face of the ball.

In testimony whereof I'have signed my name to this specification.

HERMANN STEINER. 

